The Procuratessa at once advanced with a smile of surprise and bade the
Cavaliere Valsecca welcome. Seeing Odo's embarrassment, she added that
his Highness of Monte Alloro had already apprised her of the cavaliere's
coming, and that she and her husband had the day before despatched a
messenger to Venice to enquire if he were already there to invite him to
the villa. At the same moment a middle-aged man with an air of careless
kindly strength emerged from the house and greeted Odo.
"I am happy," said he bowing, "to receive at Bellocchio a member of the
princely house of Pianura; and your excellency will no doubt be as
well-pleased as ourselves that accident enables us to make acquaintance
without the formalities of an introduction."
This, then, was the famous Procuratore Bra, whose house had given three
Doges to Venice, and who was himself regarded as the most powerful if
not the most scrupulous noble of his day. Odo had heard many tales of
his singularities, for in a generation of elegant triflers his figure
stood out with the ruggedness of a granite boulder in a clipped and
gravelled garden. To hereditary wealth and influence he added a love of
power seconded by great political sagacity and an inflexible will. If
his means were not always above suspicion they at least tended to
statesmanlike ends, and in his public capacity he was faithful to the
highest interests of the state. Reports differed as to his private use
of his authority. He was noted for his lavish way of living, and for a
hospitality which distinguished him from the majority of his class, who,
however showy in their establishments, seldom received strangers, and
entertained each other only on the most ceremonious occasions.
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